The 2 year anniversary of Decades of Elegance!

 

Vintage and antique jewellery everywhere – love it!

Hello my lovely, I hope you are having a fabulous week in this tropical heat!  Well, I just had a look at the weather forecast around the world for the Decades of Elegance reader-base, and I know that the Nordic countries are blessed with some beautiful sunshine and summer warmth – lucky you!  The same definitely goes for the UK (it is so toasty in London right now, wonderful!) and also for you Australian east-coast and American west-coast readers – not to mention sunny Dubai!  You lovely South Africans who are almost always bathing in sunshine are having a bit of colder spell at the moment, but you will surpass the rest of us in glorious weather soon so I hope you are alright about it for the moment 😉  And for the rest of you lovelies, I hope you are also having a fabulous summer – or winter for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere!

Art Deco pearl and marcasite earrings

And that is the Decades of Elegance Weather Report for the day.  I really didn’t mean to go on a tirade about the weather, but I was looking at my Google Analytics page to see where all you lovely readers are based, and that is what inspired the unusual intro to this post!

So we have been around for a wonderful two years this July, and my very first blog post was called Vintage and Antique Jewellery Today – which definitely inspired our catch phrase Vintage and Antique Jewellery Worn Today, which you can always see in our logo.  The post came to me as I was wearing this lovely 50’s necklace that my dear sister gave me – you might remember this picture, which also featured in that very first post:

The 1950s necklace that inspired my first blog post back in July 2012.  Copyright: Michelle Lindsell Photography

It has been such an exciting journey ever since!  Lots of hairstyles have been created that either show your antique jewellery beautifully, or where the pieces have been incorporated into the actual hairstyles:

We have travelled across continents – from the UK to Sweden, Dubai and Cape Town:

 Antique jewellery from Sweden – amethyst ring and bracelet.  From one of my favourite blog posts to date: A window into early 20th century Sweden

The amazing gold souk in Dubai, photo from the blog post Dubai’s Deira Gold Souk earlier this year.

In Cape Town we have visited beautiful wine farms – from the blog post Vredenheim Wildlife & Winery in Stellenbosch, Cape Town…

… not to mention all our exciting trips to the Jewel Tree in Cape Town – here a tanzanite and diamond ring from the blog post: You Brilliant Tanzanite

And we will not forget that sparkling month of February 2013, when Tiffany & Co complimented the blog and sent over photos of their collection for the Great Gatsby movie:

Tiffany & Co – Ziegfeld Pearl Necklace from the blog post Tiffany’s Great Gatsby Treasures  

I also so enjoyed the series Your Secret Jewellery Collection, where you sent in photos of your own collections with some historical information on the pieces.  It was an absolute delight to write about them and to see how you keep your favourite pieces stored:

And we have also had the opportunities to work with so many wonderful magazines and websites: The Antiques Roadshow Magazine, The Simple Things, Vintage Life Magazine, Vintage Brighton, Make and Sell Jewellery, The Sloaney, Londonswedes… you can find them all under the tab at the top of the blog called Press & Portfolio.

One of the published Decades of Elegance articles to date – from the blog post: It’s a Vintage Life

And I couldn’t have done any of this, if it hadn’t been for You, my dear reader!  Your encouragement, comments and suggestions give me a whole embrace full of new inspiration and drive, and I love hearing your stories about how the blog has inspired you to wear some inherited jewellery or try a new hairstyle together with a piece of jewellery!

A virtual red rose to you my dear – and let’s take a moment to admire this ca 18th century ring from Sweden – just amazing that antique jewellery can be so well-made that it lasts for 300 years+!

So here is a big thank you for reading the blog and giving me the inspiration to keep learning more about beautiful antique jewellery and spreading the knowledge!  I now believe that if you do what you love, then the universe works with you to help fulfil your dreams.  I hope that the blog gives you some motivation to do what makes you happy here in life.

Our interview in the Antiques Roadshow Magazine is now out!

 

Antiques Roadshow Magazine issue 4 has just appeared on the newsstands…  

And so a brand new issue of the Antiques Roadshow Magazine has appeared on the shelves and I am absolutely delighted to let you know that there is a Decades of Elegance-interview on page 89!

The Decades of Elegance interview in the Antiques Roadshow Magazine is now out!

The two-year-anniversary of Decades of Elegance is actually here now, in July, and I must say that seeing this interview in print feels like the perfect way of marking this milestone.  The Antiques Roadshow is such a dear programme to so many of us and being able to take part in it like this is just the most wonderful thing!  In the article you will get to read about the history of the blog, the exciting things that have come my way in the course of blogging and of course why we should buy antique jewellery.

Glamour on the Go – another article in the latest issue of the Antiques Roadshow Magazine

We first made the acquaintance of the Antiques Roadshow Magazine in the blog post Review of the Antiques Roadshow Magazine back in April, as you might remember.  They are now on their fourth issue and things just keep getting more and more interesting.  I found myself engulfed in the article on the history of cosmetics, where we are taken on a journey that starts with the appearance of the ‘world’s first powder blusher’ in 1863; continues through the 30’s when women were suddenly seen applying lipstick and powder in public; and shows us some beautiful and clever jewellery inventions that allowed for beauty products to be carried around in a very fashionable manner.

So my dear, if you would like to read about the most fascinating stories behind beautiful antique objects, go behind the scenes of the Antiques Roadshow tv-program and also read the Decades of Elegance interview, I would warmly recommend that you pop out and buy the new issue of the Antiques Roadshow Magazine!

‘Blog of the Month’ in the ‘Make and Sell Jewellery’ magazine

We are so proud to be Blog of the Month in the Make and Sell Jewellery magazine

We are just so happy to have been made ‘Blog of the Month’ in the magazine Make & Sell Jewellery!  This is their June 2014 issue, number 62 and it can be found in Waitrose, WH Smith, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Morrisons and Asda.

Make and Sell Jewellery

Make and Sell Jewellery is so lovely as it is really aimed at everyone – from beginners to pros.  I started looking through it and to my delighted I soon realised that it was bursting with tips on everything you can ever imagine when it comes to making and selling jewellery.  You will find out how to make jewellery, what products to use to achieve professional jewellery results (for ex. where to buy freshwater pearls in stock and where to get a jewellery making qualification), where they offer workshops, how to do market research to improve your jewellery brand etc. etc.

This magazine is an absolute must for anyone in the jewellery trade – I now have so many wonderful ideas on improvements at my end!

How much do we love our statement necklaces… and here we will learn how to make our own!

I was drawn to an article giving advice on how to organise a successful jewellery party – something that I have been thinking of for a very long time but never managed to get around to.  Is this something that you guys would be interested in when it comes to Decades of Elegance?  If you leave a comment below I promise to give it some further thought!  

Have a lovely Monday my dear and I will see you again on Wednesday, when we are popping over to a gold souk in Dubai to see what one of those look like!

Our second interview in Tribe Magazine

Hello my dear, I am back from a glorious Sweden and have tons of fabulous blog posts coming up!  I wasn’t able to update the blog yesterday because of some IT problems, but I think that quite a few of you saw our Facebook-notification about the second instalment of Tribe Magazine’s interview with Decades of Elegance!  The interview can be found here:

Decades of Elegance interview in Tribe Magazine’s Work/Life section 

While back in Sweden I also met up with another blogger, Nadja Helminen Mamamini, who writes for Cover Kids.  On the blog she invites into her world of gorgeous Scandinavian style, with a focus on children’s’ wear.  She so kindly looked after a couple of my vintage jewellery pieces and even featured the citrine cocktail ring on her blog, which was very exciting!  I will see if I can find a link to that post – and I am now very pleased to have the pieces back in our collection:

Vintage Citrine Cocktail Ring – kept in an Iittala Vitriini which I know that you can find here in London at our favourite Skandium

Vintage Citrine Cocktail Ring ca 1950s

Vintage Silver Rings – you might remember the post Knitted Gloves and Silver Rings where they first appeared?

So we have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to the Vintage Fair in Stockholm this weekend, so do expect a few posts on that shortly!  They also have an amazing fair coming up in a castle at the beginning of June, which we are so excited about, and I promise to keep you posted on that one!

Our interview in the fabulous Tribe Magazine

“As the founder and editor of Decades of Elegance, the Swedish/Finnish style maven invites her readers into the fascinating world of  jewellery trading and takes them on a treasure hunt that spans the hustle and bustle of London’s markets, antique auctions and even the shores of South Africa to source the most special pieces.” – Tribe Magazine, March 2014

The Decades of Elegance interview in Tribe Magazine

Oh I am just delighted to be featuring in the lovely online wonder: Tribe Magazine!  They invited me to talk about Decades of Elegance and what it is like to be a blogger, and we discussed everything from researching gemstones to finding inspiration and where Decades of Elegance will one day go.  It is such a privilege to be doing these interviews, as answering the questions always give me the opportunity to think about why I am running the blog – and what I want to achieve with it.  Those are easy questions to answer of course: we all need to escape our busy lives every now and then, and be allowed to indulge in beautiful things and interesting stories.  The blog is hopefully a place that sweeps you off your feet and inspires you to wear things that you wouldn’t have worn otherwise – or makes you take out those precious pieces of jewellery that are kept in a safe place “for a special occasion” and wear them today, just because they make you feel extra lovely!

I would love to find out if you have a favourite blog post so far: is there anything that has stayed with you during our journey through antique shops, weddings and trips to other continents?

Thank you Tribe for having us, and thank you dear for popping by today!

Decades of Elegance-interview in the Simple Things Magazine

“(Decades of Elegance) the modern-day equivalent of that childhood dressing-up box experience, made even richer by the captivating images and fascinating stories behind certain pieces.” – The Simple Things Magazine

A sneak peek into the  interview in The Simple Things Magazine, Photography: James Oaten 

We are so excited to let you know that the Decades of Elegance-interview in The Simple Things Magazine is now out!  Issue #21 is featuring our lovely collection and the magazine can be found at WH Smith stores for another few weeks.  You can also order it online:  The Simple Things Magazine Order Online.

I thought that today’s post would be the perfect time to take a sneak peek behind the scenes of the magazine photo shoot, where we made the acquaintance of photographer James Oaten.  We have visited his website in a previous blog post, but just in case you missed it you can find it here: James Oaten.

I can’t wait to have a walk-in-closet, obviously with a section dedicated fully to jewellery!  Photography: Iida Heikkinen

On the day of the photo shoot the whole Decades of Elegance-collection came out, and my place suddenly looked like the dressing room of any old Hollywood movie!  Pearls and sparkle were sprung across mirrors, drawers and tables, and I suspect that even Elizabeth Taylor would have been happy with the pieces that were on display:

A vintage mother-of-pearl necklace, just waiting to be worn to an elegant party…   Photography: Iida Heikkinen

Vintage snake necklace and pearls in the Iittala Mariskooli – we Londoners can buy these bowls at the fabulous Skandium. Photography: Iida Heikkinen

Being interviewed by Melissa Blease was such a lovely way of reminding myself why I started the blog in the first place: my wish to bring all these beautiful pieces to you and tell the fascinating stories of gemstones, eras and styles.  There are so many amazing people out there working for such important causes and so I wanted to create a space where you can step away from the rest of the world and indulge in old school beauty and glamour.

My co-photographer here at Decades of Elegance helped me take some more photos after the Simple Things-photo shoot, for example this vintage Mother of Pearl bracelet…  Photography: Decades of Elegance

And since the photo shoot brought out all the Decades of Elegance pieces I took the opportunity to photograph a few for the sales page that is coming soon – you might recognise a few of these sweeties.

Sarah Coventry vintage bracelet…   Photography: Decades of Elegance

I hope you enjoyed the post today dear, and I would love to hear your thoughts on the blog as it stands.  Is there anything that you would like to read more about?  Hairstyle ideas / Outfit inspiration / visits to markets or fairs?  Or if you just have some general thoughts that you would like to share I would love to hear those too!